If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me this question since Cragbaby entered on the scene…well let’s face it, I wouldn’t be rich, but I would definitely be able to buy more $4 frappucinos at Starbucks! The funny thing is, I never really feel like I have a good answer for this question. I feel like the “correct” answer is, “Yes, the responsibility of raising a little person has made me less risky of a climber.” But if I’m being honest, I have not changed with regards to my risk assessment. Before you start throwing stones, let me explain.
Life on Lead is a monthly column by Amy Christensen – climber, certified life coach, writer. In this column she discusses the point where the challenges of life and the challenges of climbing meet. She takes readers on a journey, helping them learn how to use wisdom gained from climbing to enact powerful, positive changes [...]
I look up and around, searching for a way out of my predicament. Everything looks thin. I want that hold.
Wanting something just out of reach is pretty common. If we’re building a new business, we want more customers right now. If we’re looking for a life partner, we want to know in an instant that the stranger we just met will meet our criteria. Yet life seldom offers us everything we want right away. We have to work for it. Take our time and put in the hours of effort. Otherwise, when we leap ahead, reaching for that one thing that’ll make everything easier, we fall. Our energy is exhausted with the attempts to jump.
Looking up at this hold, I realize I have two choices: I can go for it, expending a ton of extra energy in both physical exertion as well as mental exhaustion, as I desperately reach out and lunge for the hold. Or. I can regroup and find a way to get my body higher. Two inches might just do it.
I tell my clients all the time that taking care of ourselves is the most important thing we can do—not only for ourselves, but for others. When we take care of ourselves, we have the strength to care for others. When we take care of ourselves, we give others permission to take care of themselves, which is liberating and refreshing for everyone. Rock climbing is a team effort. You and your partner depend on each other in intricate ways. You are literally each others life line. And if one doesn’t feel like climbing on a particular day, the other is out of luck. It’s hard to say “I don’t want to climb today” when you are painfully aware that your partner won’t get to climb either.
